Innovative steel columns placed at Detroit’s Henry Ford Health expansion project
In Detroit, the world’s first W14x1000 steel columns—weighing about 1,000 pounds per foot—have been installed at Henry Ford Health’s $2.2 billion expansion project, known as Destination: Grand.
World’s Largest Steel Columns Debut in Detroit Hospital Project
The steel columns are the world’s largest and heaviest, according to project contractor Barton Malow. Designed to support extreme vertical and lateral loads, the jumbo columns have been placed in the bracing core at the base of the hospital’s 20-story tower—the first project to use these columns.
The four columns were manufactured by ArcelorMittal, a Luxembourg-based steel manufacturer, and sourced through Sippel Steel, a Pittsburgh-based fabricator. The tri-venture construction team Barton Malow-Turner-Dixon (BTD), in partnership with Gayanga Co., is constructing Destination: Grand.
ArcelorMittal and Barton Malow Deliver Ultra-Heavy Structural Steel
The steel columns were made from 98% recycled scrap and melted with clean electricity in Europe. In addition to reducing overall steel tonnage and providing cost savings, the columns are among the most sustainable types of steel available, per Barton Malow.
Destination: Grand also is the world’s first healthcare project to use Grade 80 steel, a new super high-strength steel that reduces overall tonnage, Barton Malow says. Grade 80 steel, made by ArcelorMittal for this project, features high yield strength and is more resistant to wear and fatigue.
As part of a $3 billion Future of Health: Detroit plan, the 1.2 million-sf hospital project includes the patient tower with 432 all-private, high-tech patient rooms, as well as an expanded emergency department, procedural lab spaces, and intensive care units. The hospital will be among the country’s first to be fully electric.
After a September 2024 groundbreaking, the steel work and metal decking are anticipated to reach completion in 2026. Substantial project completion is scheduled for May 2029, with the first patient expected in December 2029.
